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Gorilla Grodd
Gorilla Grodd is a supervillain appearing in DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of The Flash. He debuted in Flash v.1 #106 (April–May 1959), and was created by writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino. IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains Of All Time List ranked Grodd as #35. Biography Gorilla Grodd is a hyper-intelligent telepathic gorilla with the power to control the minds of others. At one time he was nothing more than an average ape, but after an alien spacecraft (retconned from a radioactive meteor, the same one that empowered Hector Hammond) crashes in his African home, Grodd and his troupe are imbued with super-intelligence by the ship's pilot. Grodd and fellow gorilla Solovar also develop telepathic and telekinetic powers. Taking the alien as their leader, the gorillas construct a super advanced home named Gorilla City. The gorillas live in peace until their home is discovered by prying explorers. Grodd forces one of the explorers to kill the alien, and takes over Gorilla City, planning to conquer the world next. Solovar telepathically contacts Barry Allen to warn him of the evil gorilla's plans, and Grodd is defeated. The villain manages to return again and again to plague the Flash and his allies. In a confrontation with Wally West, Grodd increases the brain power of most of the animals in Central City. He hopes to endanger the lives of all the humans, but this plan backfires because some of the pets are too loyal. Grodd's plans are defeated by the Flash with the assistance of the Pied Piper, Vixen, and Rex the Wonder Dog. At one point, the immortal villain Vandal Savage kidnaps Titans member Omen and uses her to form the perfect team of adversaries for the Teen Titans. Savage approaches Grodd, offering him membership in this new anti-Titans group, Tartarus. Savage sweetens the offer with promises of power and immortality. Grodd joins Tartarus on their mission to synthesize the immortal blood of the H.I.V.E. Mistress, Addie Kane. Savage seeks to create a serum that will grant immortality. Their schemes are thwarted when the Titans intervene, and Tartarus retreats. Tempest later leads a rescue mission to save Omen from Savage. During the rescue attempt, Tartarus battles the Titans, but collapses upon itself due to each member having a different agenda. This is because Omen had purposely chosen members who would not work well together. When Siren switches alliances during the battle and aids Tempest in escaping, the Tartarus members go their separate ways and the group disbands. One of Grodd’s widest-ranging schemes was to arrange Solovar's assassination and manipulate Gorilla City into war against humanity, with the aid of a "shadow cabinet" of prominent gorillas called Simian Scarlet. In the course of this, Grodd absorbs too much neural energy from his fellow apes, leaving him with the intelligence of a normal gorilla. He has since recovered, and a failed attempt to set up a base in Florida leads to his capture and incarceration in Iron Heights. Grodd is also seen in the Superman/Batman arc "Public Enemies" (Superman/Batman #1 – #7) controlling numerous villains and heroes in order to take down Superman and Batman for the prize of 1 billion dollars offered by then U.S. President Lex Luthor. Despite his use of foes such as Mongul, Solomon Grundy, Lady Shiva, and Nightshade, Superman and Batman are able to deduce the mind behind the attacks, and quickly dispose of Grodd. He is responsible for crippling the Flash's friend Hunter Zolomon, resulting in his transformation into the villainous Zoom when Hunter tries to change the event so it never happened. Hunter would often think about how Grodd used him as a plaything in that fight while talking it over with the Flash. Grodd attacks the International Ultramarine Corps, ravaging. He ravaged the African city of Kinshasa, literally eating many hostages, so the Corps would take their floating city to it. Grodd grounds their city and neutralizes many of their members. During the course of this incident, Beryl informs the team that Grodd ranks number three on the latest "Global Most Wanted". He has made no fewer than eighteen attempts to eliminate all traces of humanity from the face of the Earth. One of the attempts occurs in Son of Ambush Bug #5 (November 1986). Grodd had traveled to the Late Cretaceous "to wipe out all traces of human evolution from the time stream" (despite the fact that, at this point in time, the ancestors of humanity would be his own ancestors as well). His plans are apparently shattered by a combination of the sudden appearance of Titano, and Ambush Bug waking from a nightmare. Whether or not Grodd's plan is a failure or not is disputable: Ambush Bug awakes to "Anchor-Ape Clark Kong". In the 1991 Angel and the Ape limited series, Grodd is revealed as the grandfather of Angel's partner Sam Simeon. This is conflict with Martian Manhunter Annual #2 (1999), which states that Sam Simeon is Grodd’s brother. In the Justice League of America Wedding Special, Gorilla Grodd is among the villains seen as members of the Injustice League Unlimited. In JLA Classified #1-3, DC, 3-issue story arc, 2004, Grodd and his forces attack the Ultramarine Corps. Grodd has most of the citizens they are protecting killed. He personally eats some of the humans. In Salvation Run #3, Grodd teams up with the Joker to gather their own faction of the exiled supervillains. In #4, he kills Monsieur Mallah and The Brain, only to be knocked off a cliff by the Joker. He is seen alive in the final issue, attempting to deliver payback to the Joker. In Justice League of America #21, Grodd is shown among the members of Libra's new Secret Society and placed in the Inner Circle. In Final Crisis #4, Gorilla Grodd was among the high-ranked superheroes and supervillains that were turned into Justifiers. In Final Crisis: Resist, he is sent to apprehend Snapper Carr and Cheetah, but fails. Powers and Abilities Grodd's psionic abilities allow him to place other beings under his mental control. Grodd can also project telekinetic force beams, telekinetically transmute matter, and transfer his consciousness into other bodies. He possesses great physical strength far exceeding that of an ordinary gorilla. He is a scientific genius who has mastered Gorilla City's advanced technology and who has created many incredible inventions of his own. Category:Conquerors Category:Justice League Villains Category:The Flash Villains